Environmental triumvirate celebrates anniversaries in 2006

Three key environmental groups celebrated a combined 85 years of service this year, during which time they have shaped Marin's landscape by restoring wetlands, educating the public and inspiring students to protect the environment.

The three groups have a legacy of work that has preserved marshland, boosted aquatic habitat and opened vistas as well as nurtured riparian areas by planting native plants and trees.

"Well yes, we have saved a lot of properties and there are about 35 more that we still want to go after," said Barbara Salzman, head of Marin Audubon. "A lot still needs to be done."

Much of the focus of the groups is to help restore water quality and wetlands - marsh areas along shores and near creeks.

In the North Bay, until the mid-19th century, there were some 55,000 acres of wetlands, providing habitat for migrating waterfowl, acting as a nursery for a variety of fish species and an incubator for plants. A potent mix of wetlands - tidal marshes, tidal flats, vernal pools, streams and creeks - provided optimal conditions for a myriad of life.

As the wetlands dried, so did the number of species, and today many are listed as endangered. About 82 percent of San Pablo Bay's wetlands were diked by the Great Depression. Today, roughly 10,000 acres remain as wetlands.

More than 21,000 acres in the North Bay have been acquired, but more work needs to be done to transform the dried-out acreage to moist, life-sustaining wetlands. And the effort to acquire more land - pushing toward a goal of 40,000 acres - is ongoing.

Marin Audubon Society

Given its history, Audubon arguably has the most direct impact on Marin of any environmentalist group. It was established in 1956 as part of the effort to prevent development on Richardson Bay tidelands.

In recent years, Audubon has been credited with saving 1,000 acres of wetlands, allowing for unfettered bay views and the saving of fish and bird habitat. Grants from state, federal and private sources have helped fund the program.

Much of the work has occurred in the past 10 years. In 1997, after battling to save habitat from development through environmental review, Audubon's focus changed to protecting habitat through buying land. The first bayland acquisition was Triangle Marsh in Corte Madera, purchased in 1999.

Other key properties it acquired include: 164 acres of diked baylands along Simmons Slough near Novato, 632 acres of woodlands and baylands at Bahia in Novato, and a 182-acre tidal wetland and bayland on San Antonio Creek. Earlier this month, a levee on San Antonio Creek was breached and a large tract was returned to wetlands.

The Marin Islands National Wildlife Refuge - near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in the middle of the bay - supports the largest heron rookery in San Francisco Bay. It was an early project of Audubon.

One of the biggest projects Audubon was involved with is Bahia. In January 2003, it finalized a $15.8 million deal for the land from a developer who had designs to build homes at the site. For years, Audubon had sought to preserve Bahia, which includes 333 acres of diked salt marsh, 18 acres of seasonal wetlands and a 214-acre blue oak forest.

As Audubon's president, Salzman has emerged as the modern day matriarch of the county's environmental movement, using her no-nonsense charm to get things done.

"I think you will see more of the same in the coming years, we'll be going after more property in Marin," she said, citing the sprawling St. Vincent's/Silveira land off Highway 101 between San Rafael and Novato as an environmental Holy Grail. "But as with any project, unless you have a willing seller there is not too much you can do."

The Bay Institute

The Bay Institute was founded in 1981 and forged a new advocacy approach which viewed the entire Bay-Delta ecosystem as a single, interdependent watershed - from the "Sierra to the Sea" as the organization says. Just this year, it helped with an agreement to restore the San Joaquin River, which feeds the bay.

But it has had local influence as well.

Restoring wetlands along Hamilton Field, a project to restore the San Pablo Bay watershed, helping move a planned casino away from San Pablo Bay and getting the casino land donated as open space are all projects the Bay Institute has a had a hand in shaping.

The Novato-based group is a science, public policy and educational organization that has a cadre of scientists who come up with the best available information to help decision-makers.

The Bay Institute has been able to break down complex scientific issues by developing a bay scorecard, which assigns letter grades on various aspects of the bay quality.

The organization developed its Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed program (STRAW), involving students from around the Bay Area who take on 25 restoration projects every year.

"We have now planted more than 20,000 native plants in Marin and Sonoma counties," said Grant Davis, executive director of the Bay Institute. "That will have a lasting impact. Just about every creek or area that flows into the bay has been touched by that program."

Bay Joint Venture

The Novato-based San Francisco Bay Joint Venture was launched in 1996.

It helps coordinate an patchwork of local environmental groups, state and federal officials and agencies that are trying to nurture thousands of acres of wetlands.

"We provide a point of coordination to help with the protection of the bay wetlands," said Beth Huning, executive director of the Joint Venture, which represents a variety of interests from environmentalists to businesses. "We can match partners with funding and help develop the science to support the restoration."

The group has worked on protecting nearly 30,000 acres of wetlands along Highway 37 - the "North Bay flyway highway" - in the past 10 years.

Projects in Marin and the North Bay it has worked on include Hamilton, Bahia, Napa Sonoma marshes and the old Cargill salt ponds.

The group has a mission to restore and protect wetlands around the bay.

The organization developed a Highway 37 audio tour to educate the public about the value and nature of wetlands.

"We want to make sure to restore the right habitats to deliver maximum functions," Huning said. "We will continue to work toward that.